The trip across the Nullabor resulted in heartbreak for the Saints, when they were upset by West Coast by 17 points at Subiaco. With Nick Riewoldt leading the way up forward, the Saints were on top early, leading by 14 points at quarter time. But the Eagles pegged them back to cut the margin to a point at half time, and hit the front late in the third term. Going into the last quarter, a 70m torp from Quentin Lynch, followed in quick succession by goals to Brent Staker and Scott Selwood, put the Eagles in an unbeatable position and St Kilda's finals position in jeopardy.West Coast 2.3 6.5 9.11 15.13 (103)St Kilda 4.5 6.6 9.9 12.14 (86)Goals : West Coast - LeCras 4, Ebert 3, Staker 3, McKinley, Lynch, S. Selwood, Seaby, Nicoski. St Kilda -Riewoldt 5, Milne 2, Goddard, Montagna, Ball, Armitage, Gram.Best : West Coast - Ebert, Staker, LeCras, Lynch, Braun, Cox, Seaby, McNamara. St Kilda - Riewoldt, Hayes, Goddard, Fisher, Montagna, Eddy.Injuries : West Coast - Cox (cramp). St Kilda - Hudghton (calf)Reports - Nil. Umpires - Nicholls, Kamolins, Ellis.Crowd - 34,037 at Subiaco Oval.

Richmond again proved themselves to be masters of the close encounters when the Tigers got up in another thriller, this time by 3 points over Brisbane at Telstra Dome. It wasn't looking that way for most of the night, and when the Lions led by 25 points at the last change they were looking good. But the Tigers weren't beaten yet, and with an 8-goal burst in the last term the game was to go down to the wire. Joel Bowden, who made the headlines for his defensive actions against Essendon in the previous game, this time was the hero up forward; kicking 3 goals in the last quarter to get the Tigers over the line.Richmond 2.2 8.4 10.7 18.9 (117)Brisbane 3.6 7.8 13.14 16.18 (114)Goals : Richmond - N Brown 4 J Bowden 4 M Richardson 3 J Riewoldt 2 B Deledio T Simmonds J Schulz M White M Morton. Brisbane - J Brown 3 D Bradshaw 3 J Sherman 2 T Johnstone 2 J Brennan A Corrie J Charman S Black R Copeland J Drummond.Best : Richmond - M Richardson J Bowden B Deledio K Johnson S Tuck N Brown. Brisbane - J Drummond J Brown J Patfull T Johnstone S Black B Dalziell.Reports - Nil. Umpires - M Stevic, H Ryan, S Ryan.Crowd - 31,275 at Telstra Dome.

It wasn't pretty, a relentless battle of flooding and hard tackling, but Adelaide snapped their 5-match losing streak when they continued their run of success against Sydney with a 24-point win at the SCG.In each of the first 3 quarters there were no goals scored for the first 15 minutes, shaping the match as a low-scoring slog. But the Crows took the advantage late in the second term, with Andrew McLeon and Ben Rutton strong in midfield; and in the absence of Brett Burton, Jason Posplyzia put his hand up with a bag of 5 goals - worth their weight in gold on a night when goals were hard to come by. The Crows maintained their lead by reducing the third quarter to a goal-less term, and frustrating the Swans' forward line to an inaccurate 6.17 for the night.Click here to see Harboursport's photo gallery from this game.Adelaide 3.6 8.7 8.10 11.11 (77)Sydney 2.3 4.9 4.12 6.17 (53)Goals : Adelaide - J Porplyzia 5, S Goodwin 2, B Campbell, N Gill, D Mackay, B Symes. Sydney - D Jolly, L Ablett, C Bird, M O’Dwyer, B Hall, B Mathews.Best : Adelaide - J Porplyzia, B Rutten, A McLeod, B Vince, C Knights. Sydney - R O'Keefe, B Kirk, T Kennelly, C Bird.Injuries : Adelaide - K Massie (virus) replaced in selected side by B Moran, N Van Berlo (concussion). Sydney - N Malceski (calf) replaced in selected side by B Mathews, H Playfair (hamstring), A Goodes (groin).Reports - Nil. Umpires - Armstrong, McInerney, Vozzo.Crowd - 26,260 at SCG.

The Kangaroos were the hottest of favourites when taking on Melbourne at the MCG, and kicking the first seven goals it was looking like a blowout. Lindsay Thomas was in devastating form up forward, while veteran midfielder Brent Harvey was also in fine touch. But Melbourne showed considerably more fight than they have in some games earlier this season, slowly but surely pegging the deficit back; and when Colin Sylvia played on and goaled at the 10 minute mark of the last quarter, the margin was cut back to just 19 points. But that was as close as North would allow the Demons to get, with steadying goals to Thomas and Corey Jones putting the result beyond doubt.Kangaroos 7.3 9.6 11.9 14.14 (98)Melbourne 1.3 3.4 6.8 10.10 (70)Goals : Kangaroos - Thomas 5, Jones 4, Harvey 2, Petrie, Hale, Campbell. Melbourne - Miller 3, Newton 2, Davey, Valenti, P. Johnson, Sylvia, Morton.Best : Kangaroos - Harvey, Hale, Jones, Thomas, Gibson, Simpson, Rawlings. Melbourne - Buckley, Jones, Valenti, Davey, McDonald, P. Johnson.Injuries - Nil.Reports : Melbourne - Dunn for striking Harvey in the third quarter.Umpires - McLaren, Fila, HendrieCrowd - 21,330 at MCG.

A round of upsets was completed in the twilight fixture at Telstra Dome when Carlton came from behind to shock the Western Bulldogs by 28 points. The Bulldogs led by 26 points at half-time, and were still comfortably ahead late in the third term, but the Blues gained the initiative with 3 goals in time on in the third and went on with the job in the last quarter with 6 unanswered goals. Chris Judd and Nick Stevens were dominating possession, while Brendan Fevola continued to establish himself as a valuable presence up forward with 6.5.Carlton 2.4 5.8 12.13 18.18 (126)Western Bulldogs 3.3 10.4 15.6 15.8 (98)Goals : Carlton - Fevola 6, Wiggins 4, Kreuzer 3, Betts, Judd, Murphy, Stevens, Scotland. Bulldogs - Hahn 3, Johnson 3, Harbrow 2, Hill 2, Boyd, Giansiracusa, Gilbee, Minson, Murphy.Best : Carlton - Judd, Stevens, Fevola, Murphy, Wiggins, Carrazzo, Scotland, Waite. Bulldogs - Cross, Cooney, Gilbee, Boyd, Johnson, Griffen.Injuries : Carlton - Nil. Bulldogs - Addison (knee), Williams (shoulder) replaced in selected side by Everitt.Reports - Nil. Umpires - Kennedy, Meredith, Avon.Crowd - 37,879 at Telstra Dome.

The long-awaited Hawthorn v Geelong game saw a massive crowd of over 86,000 rock up to the MCG, and the game lived up to the hype with an exciting and fast-moving contest.The Cats made the early front-running, kicking the first five goals of the game and leading by 19 points at quarter time. Jimmy Bartel, Corey Enright and Joel Selwood were dominating the midfield, and the Hawks found themselves taking a long time to hit their straps. But after the early onslaught, the Hawks slowly worked their way back into the contest, and trailed by just 4 points by the last change.And within seconds of the restart, a quick snap by Mark Williams had put the Hawks in front; and the lead could have been extended by another goal had Rick Ladson not sprayed a shot wide that he should have kicked. Instead a long bomb by Jimmy Bartel restored the lead for the Cats, and when Max Rooke drifted forward to mark and goal from 40 metres out, the Cats had a 2-goal lead that they were able to sit on for the remainder of the night.Geelong 6.3 8.10 9.12 12.16 (88)Hawthorn 3.2 6.5 9.8 11.11 (77)Goals : Geelong - S.Johnson 3, Chapman 2, Bartel 2, Stokes, Mooney, Gamble, Rooke, Enright. Hawthorn -Franklin 4, Roughead 2, Williams 2, Brown 2, Bateman.Best : Geelong - Bartel, Enright, Corey, Chapman, Stokes, Selwood, Gamble, D. Johnson, Ottens. Hawthorn -Mitchell, Williams, Bateman, Croad, Rioli, Franklin, Lewis.Injuries : Geelong - Chapman (hamstring), Milburn (virus) replaced in selected side by D. Johnson. Hawthorn -Osborne (corked buttock)Reports - Nil. Umpires - McBurney, Rosebury, Schmitt.Crowd - 86,179 at MCG.

Collingwood's top 4 aspirations took a hit when the Magpies were blown away by 48 points by a determined Essendon outfit, a result that kept the Bombers' slim finals hopes alive.Andrew Welsh was in blistering form early, kicking 3 goals in the first 9 minutes as the Bombers got off to a flying start, and led by 27 points at quarter time. Collingwood fought back in the second term, and looked set to over-run the Bombers when the margin was pegged back to just 9 points at half time. But the premiership quarter was decisive, with Matthew Lloyd and the yellow-booted Kyle Reimers each kicking 2 goals in the early minutes of the quarter to restore the Essendon momentum. By three-quarter time the Bombers were on top, and built on their momentum in the last term in a result that warmed Bomber hearts but left the Magpies with some work to do to maintain their finals form.Essendon 5.7 7.10 12.11 19.14 (128)Collingwood 1.3 6.7 9.10 11.14 (80)Goals : Essendon - Welsh 4, Lloyd 4, Reimers 3, Monfries 2, McPhee 2, Stanton, Jetta, Lovett-Murray, Hille. Collingwood - Cloke 3, Didak 2, Anthony 2, Davis 2, Medhurst 2Best : Essendon - Welsh, Watson, Peverill, Lloyd, Hille, Fletcher, Reimers, Monfries. Collingwood - Cloke, Thomas, O'Brien, Maxwell, O'Bree, Burns.Injuries : Essendon - Lucas (back, knee). Collingwood - R. Shaw (heavy knock).Reports : Essendon - Lucas for striking O'Brien (Collingwood) in the first quarter. Collingwood - Davis for front-on contact on Watson in the second quarter, Didak for striking Slattery in the third quarter.Umpires - Donlon, James, HeadCrowd - 64,785 at MCG.